Firefox 9 Final Available, Get It Before Anyone Else

December 20th is the official Firefox 9 final release date. The browser has been uploaded to Mozilla's ftp server prior to release. It is currently distributed to Mozilla's first and third party distribution network to ensure a fast and uninterrupted distribution to Firefox 8 users.

I have covered all Firefox 9 changes back when the Aurora version of the browser was released. Aurora versions on the other hand are not always what final users can expect from the browser.

The biggest new feature that Mozilla introduces in Firefox 9 is Type Inference which improves JavaScript performance significantly by using inferred type information. Mozilla noted that the new feature can speed up the browser's JavaScript performance by up to 30%. Users will usually see less than that percentage though in their day activities.

The developers furthermore have added support for font-stretch, improved support for text-overflow and improved overall standards support for HTML5, MathML and CSS.

The release notes list several stability enhancements and bug fixes that have made their way into the browser (check the complete list of changes for details, linked on the release notes page).

Most Firefox users can probably wait the day until the browser is officially released by Mozilla. Users can then update Firefox with the browsers automatic update feature, or by downloading the new version from the official website.

Firefox users who experience issues with the current stable version, for instance crashes, may want to install the new version as soon as possible to resolve the issues.

Those users can download Firefox 9.0 Final from third party websites such as Softpedia. Please note that Softpedia only hosts the English version of the browser.

Have you tried Firefox 9 yet? If so, what's your impression of the new version?

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About Martin Brinkmann

Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand.You can follow Martin on Facebook, Twitter or Google+

Yes, good browser but still have an issue with Captcha Codes and no ability to display.If anyone have a solution for this please post it.Firefox is loaded without any addons and even in safemode issue is persistent.

The guys from Mozilla ruined the best browser ever with version 4 so I was forced to switch to SeaMonkey (which uses the same great Gecko engine but allows more customization and the GUi is not ruined).

Firefox has been crippled in every possible way since version 4 (the beginning of Firefox downfall):

– preposterous version numbering- it is absurd to release buggy versions without thorough testing, it is absurd to try to catch up with Google Chrome version numbers, it is absurd to torture add-on developers- most of them develop add-ons in their free time so they cannot keep to this crazy release contest with Google Chrome and as a result many add-ons turn out to be incompatible with every new Firefox version.

– removal of everything useful, for example- RSS icon from the URL bar. The classic Status Bar has been removed and replaced with the terrible add-ons bar (the +(close) button is just idiotic, the visible bars could be customized from Options menu). So users are given no options to customize the browser. Firefox developers (Asa Dotzler and the like) are deaf to users’ opinions, suggestions and feedback and it seems that their target group is not the power users but the ignorant masses (an example of their absurd logic- only 10% of Firefox users use RSS feeds, so then let’s remove it entirely from the URL bar with no option of enabling it, which will have only one effect- those who has been utilizing it will suffer while those who have never been aware of what RSS means will most likely not notice the difference at all).

– imitating other browsers’ GUIs- copycatting from Opera and Google Chrome will not make those who prefer Opera and Google Chrome like Firefox and switch to it. On the contrary, those who have been using Firefox for years will be disappointed since one of the reasons of choosing Firefox has been its GUI. As a result of the GUI change Firefox lost its identity.

– removal by default of http:// – this is sheer idiocy since it prevents users from copying/sharing/saving/publishing the exact URL address of a web page.

– with every new release Firefox becomes more and more resource-hungry, less stable and slower.

I can elaborate more on Firefox collapse but I don’t have the time. In brief- Firefox looks like Opera/Google Chrome now but performs much worse- it starts slower, loads pages slower, crashes often, it has been stripped of functionality and customization options, with every new release there is a large number of add-ons that would not work being incompatible, and has adopted a ludicrous version numbering (for less than a year the version number doubled- for 7 years of development Firefox has reached version 3.6+ and for 9 months it accumulated to 9/10) that does not illustrate the actual development.

Before version 4 I recommended Firefox to everyone and installed it to my friends’ machines. I do this no more.

9.0 piece of junk! I told Mozilla 7 times as did others on their feedback site, that 99% of the Bookmark icons in the Bookmarks on the Menu Bar, are gone! To release the 9.0 final version with this bug still present in the Mac version, which is not present in the Windows version, is Inexcusable Idiocy! Had to Uninstall and reinstall 8.01, for the sixth time! May, be forced to switch browsers, if Mozilla continues to ignore Mac users or it’s users! Very disappointed and unbelievable!!! I blame part of this problem on Apples piece of crap Lion, I will continue to use 10.6.8 until they rectify, their horrible miscue! Wake up Mozilla and Apple!!!

9.0.1 and still no icons in Bookmarks on Menu Bar! Very juvenile decisions being made at Mozilla, they obviously need some adult supervision! Numerous Reports on this Site, Macupdate and Firefox Feedback of same issue. Frustratingly disappointed!

I assume that you’re referring to the MAC version of Firefox 9.01,Whitebuck, as there is a Bookmarks Icon, on the Menu bar in the Windows version.

There are some serious concerns regarding Firefox and the direction Mozilla is taking with this Browser. The numerous rapid releases have the users concerned and frustrated! It’s been steadily losing market share and (Google) Chrome is giving Firefox some stiff competition, to the point where many FF users have switched to Chrome!

No need to worry, as I’m quite certain that Mozilla has it’s head(s) on straight and have some strategies in place for the future of it’s Browser!

As usual, the upgrade included cosmetic changes that suck. To restore the mutilated URLs in the navigation bar, go to about:config, find “browser.URLbar.trim.URLs” and toggle it off. To put the tabs back where they belong, right click on the menu bar and de-select “Tabs on Top.” The Clear Private Data extension is dead, but AskForSanitize seems to replace its functions 1:1. Sadly, the status bar seems to be gone for good.

On the performance front, 9.01 for Linux (9.0.1+build1-0ubuntu0.10.04.2) seems to be faster and less memory intensive than its predecessor, at first glance. On the whole, this upgrade mildly sabotages the UI for clueless lusers, but works OK for folks who RTFM and STFW.

(I think I just coined a new standard acronym: STFW = Search The Freakin’ Web.)

About gHacks

Ghacks is a technology news blog that was founded in 2005 by Martin Brinkmann. It has since then become one of the most popular tech news sites on the Internet with five authors and regular contributions from freelance writers.